I'm a noob to this stuff and am working without gauges, just idiot lights. My car only has 47K on it and wasnt run for 17 years. I bought it and it ran fine all the way home, 150 miles and I parked it till spring when I started using it sparingly. The first time I ran it for more than 20 miles at above average highway speeds it over heated. I towed it home and changed the thermostat, but after looking at the sludge in the radiator I decided it could very well be plugged up so I bought a new one for just over $100.
Everything was cool again till this weekend when it did it again, this time a little further from home and again on the highway. The overflow tank was bubbling but the color was a nice green. I waited for things to cool down and limped off the highway and refilled the radiator with premix and started home, babying it at 50mph. When it warmed up again I pulled over and this time the overflow tank was a dark brown sludge that looked like a babies poop. It was gurgling like a baby too! I waited a long time than rechecked, the resevoir was now bone dry and the radiator was down quite a bit as well. I refilled, restarted and nursed her home with absolutely no further issues. It ran fine. Started fine and showed no signs of over heating when I got home, 15 miles down the road.
Whats going on? What is that sludge and where did it go? Do I have a head gasket problem? I drained the oil and filter after the very first over heating problem and it showed no signs of water in there. Did someone throw that copper crap in my block? I could use some advice.
Everything was cool again till this weekend when it did it again, this time a little further from home and again on the highway. The overflow tank was bubbling but the color was a nice green. I waited for things to cool down and limped off the highway and refilled the radiator with premix and started home, babying it at 50mph. When it warmed up again I pulled over and this time the overflow tank was a dark brown sludge that looked like a babies poop. It was gurgling like a baby too! I waited a long time than rechecked, the resevoir was now bone dry and the radiator was down quite a bit as well. I refilled, restarted and nursed her home with absolutely no further issues. It ran fine. Started fine and showed no signs of over heating when I got home, 15 miles down the road.
Whats going on? What is that sludge and where did it go? Do I have a head gasket problem? I drained the oil and filter after the very first over heating problem and it showed no signs of water in there. Did someone throw that copper crap in my block? I could use some advice.
